How strange, nothing happened? My "Premonition of Disaster" was wrong—
At the party, Lorne, who was chatting and laughing with two young noblemen, felt a hint of surprise in his heart. His "Premonition of Disaster" had indeed been triggered just now, but nothing happened around him—
There really are quite a few unusual things about tonight.
"Damn it! Why is Leonard targeting me again—"
After finishing his conversation with James Scott, Klein turned around and noticed Leonard following behind him again at some point.
Obviously, his sudden appearance had caused the other to change his original tracking target. He quietly circled through the crowd a few times and finally managed to shake him off.
Afterward, he quickly walked over to Charles's side.
"That's right, our Guild's operational efficiency is very high. If there are any inconvenient accident investigations, you can come to us—" Charles was still talking enthusiastically with Sheriff Huntington nearby.
"Director." Klein leaned in and whispered a few words into Charles's ear.
"Really?" Charles's brow furrowed imperceptibly.
"Yeah."
Hearing this, Charles immediately gave the sheriff an apologetic smile, using the excuse of urgent business to attend to, and then pulled Klein quickly behind a relatively quiet pillar.
"Where is that 'Red Gloves'?"
"Over there—" Klein pointed in a direction.
Charles looked over and saw Leonard surrounded by several enthusiastic noble ladies, caught in a dilemma with a slightly awkward smile on his face. His dashing appearance was indeed particularly eye-catching on such an occasion.
"This flashy type—it's the first time I've seen one. As expected of someone from the Night Church." Charles muttered.
He then patted Klein on the shoulder and consoled him, "Alright, don't worry too much. He won't be able to trace anything back to you."
.
"But—" Klein was still a bit uneasy. After all, his former colleague had come knocking; who knew if he had discovered something?
"As soon as the party is over, we'll leave immediately—" After a moment of contemplation, Charles decided decisively.
"What about the investment?"
Charles took a deep breath. "Let's put it on hold."
At a time like this, ensuring the safety of himself and his subordinates was the most important thing.
With that, he immediately found a waiter, gave him a few banknotes, and asked him to deliver a message to James Scott, saying he had to leave early due to urgent business. He expressed his sincere apologies and stated that he would definitely visit in person regarding the investment in the future.
After completely satisfying the curiosity of the two young noblemen and exchanging contact information, Lorne finally got a bit of free time. At the same time, he also received the message brought by the waiter.
"I see." Lorne nodded without saying much. For a secret organization like that, it was normal for some emergency to crop up suddenly. Moreover, because of that black-haired policeman, he didn't want to stay here any longer either.
Amidst his swirling thoughts, Lorne frowned slightly. He felt as if there was still a gaze watching him—a sense of pure observation that was distinctly different from a human's gaze. Following his spiritual intuition, he quickly glanced at the entrance of the banquet hall.
In the shadows outside the door, a large golden retriever was squatting there silently.
When the quiet and profound gaze of that large golden retriever caught his eye, Lorne's temple twitched imperceptibly.
It was the dog he had encountered outside the luxury store; as expected, it had come too—
This dog gave him a feeling very similar to Audrey Hall. Was it a Beyonder creature of the same Pathway?
—
Truly impressive. If I hadn't been on guard, what ordinary guest would specially pay attention to a golden retriever squatting outside the door? Lorne sighed inwardly, then quietly stepped back a few paces, moving out of the range of that gaze.
"Hey, James Scott!"
Seeing that there was finally no one beside Lorne, Hazel finally mustered up the courage to walk over.
"Did we... just now..." She hesitated over her words and asked somewhat uncertainly, "Did we dance together?"
"That's right." Lorne nodded calmly.
"But... I don't seem to remember anything?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"Perhaps... you were too nervous."
"Nervous... I..." Hazel rubbed her hands nervously, trying hard to recall the memory. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she asked uncertainly, "Did you... invite me?"
"No, the accurate situation is that you invited me," Lorne spoke the truth—at least in the eyes of others, it was "Hazel" who had proactively approached and invited him to dance—"and you even disrupted my original plans because of it."
"What?! I invited you to dance?!" Hazel's eyes were full of disbelief, and her voice rose a few notches. This wasn't her style at all. How could she have done something so proactive, so... unreserved!
"Who knows what you were thinking at the time?" Lorne shrugged with an innocent look.
"I... I..."
"Alright, alright," Lorne saw that she was about to short-circuit on the spot and finally couldn't bear it, speaking up to bail her out. "Actually, we could say it was a mutual approach—"
He used a compromise: "I saw that no one was inviting you, and you just happened to walk toward me on your own initiative, so I took the opportunity to switch targets and invited you."
"Really?" A light of hope rekindled in Hazel's eyes. If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that, to some extent, she had captured James Scott's attention even more than the high-profile Audrey Hall?
"Of course." Lorne nodded. Then, staring at the girl before him whose face was slightly flushed, he pursed his lips. His tone shifted, suddenly becoming more serious.
"Miss Hazel, you should know that we only have a cooperative relationship, right?"
He emphasized the word "cooperative."
"So, don't develop any unnecessary feelings for me."
A bit of the spirituality belonging to a "Winner" was slightly released.
"I..." Hazel was somewhat breathless from his sudden aura, and the romantic thoughts that had just arisen in her heart were instantly dispersed. However, her pride as a young girl made her brace herself and retort, "Hey—you're too conceited! Who... who would have feelings for you!"
"That's for the best, then." Lorne nodded, his tone devoid of its usual playfulness. "As a public figure, I also don't want any false rumors to spread."
"This is also what you expect, isn't it?"
In the carriage on the way back, Lorne recalled everything from the party today and pressed his temples tiredly.
"Sigh—"
"I intended to take the opportunity to talk with Miss Hall, but it seems I'll have to wait until next time with Fors and Xio."
"Today's premonition was also strange; it felt suppressed and unreleased."
Just as he was thinking this, his spiritual intuition was suddenly triggered again!
"Sir, there's something blocking the road ahead! It looks like... a person!" the coachman's voice came from the front.
"A person? Standing in the middle of the road in the middle of the night, aren't they afraid of an accident?" Lorne opened the carriage curtains in surprise.
As they got closer to the person, the coachman had no choice but to pull the reins, causing the carriage's speed to drop rapidly.
With a violent jolt and the neighing of horses, the carriage finally came to a stop not far from the figure.
"Who the hell is it! So reckless!" The coachman cursed under his breath, wanting to get out and check the situation.
"Wait!" Lorne wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
The coachman jumped off the carriage. A few seconds later, his cursing voice suddenly did a 180-degree turn, becoming attentive and gentle: "Beautiful lady, do you need help?"
"A beautiful lady? Aren't you changing a bit too fast—" Lorne complained inwardly as he heard the coachman's voice change so drastically. At the same time, he reached into his coat and gripped the handle of his revolver.
"Boss," the coachman poked his head in, his face filled with the excitement of a romantic encounter, "there's a lady who needs help. She hopes we can give her a ride."
"A lady? Where would a lady come from in the middle of the night—" Lorne frowned slightly, but he quickly composed his expression and stepped off the carriage.
Turning his head, he saw a beautiful black-haired lady wrapped in a black cloak. Her face was stained with some dust, making her look somewhat pitiful. At this moment, she was looking at him with eyes as soft as water, making one involuntarily feel a strong desire to protect her.
"Ah, could I have actually run into a romantic encounter?!"
Unfortunately, these feelings didn't stay in Lorne's heart for long.
He felt that the lady before him looked somewhat familiar. If... he were to put a mask on her...
"Oh, it's an acquaintance."